


return to the place you never left

by orphan_account



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Order of the Lotus Fic Exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-03
Updated: 2010-07-03
Packaged: 2017-10-10 08:56:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/97895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the orderofthelotus fic exchange. Some Suki POV on the events of Book Three.</p>
            </blockquote>





	return to the place you never left

**Author's Note:**

> I love Suki/Sokka even though the pairing isn't present too much in the series. Ergo; this was very fun to write! I really enjoyed filling in some hypothetical missing moments.

The boiling rock is no more strenuous than other Fire Nation prisons (or so Suki can surmise.) The clothes are serviceable, the food edible, the work fairly easy to accomplish. And that is the cruelty of it. The mundane daily routine can easily pervade one's formerly rebellious psyche, allowing one to think that the microcosm behind these implacable metal walls is all to which one can aspire. That one can never escape, living and dying amidst a dull world enclosed in some godforsaken burning lake. 

Suki cannot allow herself to be beaten down, even if frustration and fear occasionally threaten to overwhelm her entirely. Drawing on her instincts, Suki closes her eyes and _remembers_. She recalls the sound of the teasing laughter and the proud songs of her fellow warriors. The taste of her favorite foods and the satisfaction of preparing it herself. The feeling of the spring time wind on Kyoshi Island, tugging at her warrior's garb. The adrenaline rush of a battle well fought. 

And though he is still something of a stranger to her, she remembers Sokka, too. She remembers his initial arrogance, and his later willingness to admit to just that. She remembers his arms around her, how it felt to kiss him, and the way they both laughed afterwards when they noticed that her makeup had smudged all over his face . 

She remembers all the reasons she continues to fight.

**.**

"This is a _very important mission_," Sokka intones solemnly, as they lay in wait for their prey. 

"Shhh!" Suki whispers and holds a finger to his lips. "Don't reveal our location to the enemy."

It is a few days since her escape from prison, and they have trekked for almost half a day, in search of nearest Fire Nation home. They are now lurking behind a fence, waiting for the opportune moment to steal a new outfit for Suki. ("Trust me, it's fun. It's like shopping but _for free_," Sokka had said enthusiastically on their way here.) 

"Get that one," Sokka says now, ignoring her warning and gesturing to a particular dress, temptingly hanging from the nearest clothesline.

"Which one?"

"That one." 

Suki looks at the outfit, and then pretends to glare at Sokka. "The one that conveniently lacks fabric over the midriff?"

"…Ease of movement? Shouldn't that be your primary concern?"

"I somehow doubt your motives, Sokka."

"It's also pretty?" The residents of the house finally, _finally_, head back into their residence and Sokka immediately takes this as an opportunity to spring into action, leaping over the fence. "Choose whichever outfit you want, but make it quick!" 

Suki's instincts are equally fast and, before she knows it, she is beating a fast retreat, brand new outfit in hand. (The one Sokka had indicated. He is right on that count; It is pretty.) _Victory_!

When she's out of breath, and they have made good distance, she turns to survey her partner in crime. He is holding his own newly purloined shirt, even though she knows for certain that he has a number of clothes back at camp. 

"You are so fashionable," she says, affectionately. 

"I try, I try." He kisses her then, and it has to be fast (it so happens that, they're still on the run.) She wishes it could last longer, but that would be a foolish idea.

_Oh well. When we get back to camp!_. 

**.**  
There are memories, there is reality, and the intricate blurring between the two is complex and convoluted. During a quiet moment one day, Suki steals away from the group to find an isolated area of the western air temple. (Life remains unpredictable, and Suki sometimes marvels at how she has wound up here; concealed in the crumbling remains of a monument built by the Air Nomads.) The wind here is much stronger than that of her island home, but something about it feels familiar. She sits at the edge of the temple, her feet dangling in the air. She throws rocks into the abyss below and listens to them bounce off the cliffs. 

Fact: She is the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, a determined combatant, and typically skilled at adapting to any situation. 

Fact: She also suddenly has a boyfriend, and this sudden event flummoxes her. 

It is one thing to engage in flirtations and hold to optimistic dreams. The bewildering daily routine of a relationship is something else entirely. There is no set code of conduct to follow, and no certain path to take. As something of a perfectionist, Suki wishes it were otherwise, wishes for confirmation that she's going about this in the right way. 

She sighs in disgust after a while. _Amazing that I'm finding time to second guess myself about something trivial, even when there's a war going on._

"Suki," a voice calls, the wind drowning it out somewhat. 

She turns to find Sokka standing nearby. "Hi," she says, making her voice bright. "Glad to see you." 

He comes to sit beside her, and for a moment they maintain a fragile silence. "I'm sorry," Sokka says. 

_That startles her_. "For what?" 

He shrugs, contrite. "You seemed sort of mad today, so I thought…" His words trail off.

"Seriously, it's not you. Believe me." 

"Good to know," he says. "I know I don't always know what I'm doing," he says. "How to be a boyfriend, I mean." 

Suki rests her head against his shoulder, her hand reaching for his. "Then let's consider it even, because I don't exactly know what I'm doing, either. But we'll figure it out, right?" 

"Right." He laughs, and Suki's suddenly so stupidly happy that all questions of right and wrong are nearly erased.


End file.
